選詞填空:猴子至少兩次從非洲到南美

本期外刊閱讀選自2020年4月9日《Newscientist》上關於猴子至少兩次從非洲到南美。現在根據這一話題文章分別改成小貓釣魚，語篇的難度為適中，適合作熱點話題的培優專練。

一、外刊閱讀：小貓釣魚

原文為

命題為

Monkeys made their way from Africa to South America at least twice

一、外刊閱讀：語法填空

A. slightly B. originally C. fascinating

D. originated E. diverse F. shape

G. indicates H. extinctI. identify

J. thought K. stemming

Two lineages(血統) of ancient monkey migrated from Africa to South America more than 30 million years ago. But we aren’t sure which ones got there first.

Monkeys (31) ______ in Africa and the first group known to have reachedSouth America are thought to have migrated thereup to 40 million years ago, when the land masses were probably between 1500 and 2000 kilometresapart, around a quarter of the distance now.

But recent fossil discoveries, including that of fossilised teeth from asecond lineage of African monkey, tell a(n) (32) _______ different story.

Erik Seiffert at the University of Southern California and his colleaguesanalysed the fossilised teeth, which were (33) ______ discovered in Santa Rosa,Peru. 「This discovery was just so incredibly(34) ______, I was very excited,」says Seiffert.

He and his colleagues analysed four fossilised teeth and discovered thattheir (35) ______ doesn’t match that of the only previously known groupofancient monkeysfrom SouthAmerica, called platyrrhines. Instead, the teeth look much more like those of a(n)(36) _______ group of African monkeys called the parapithecids.

「Mammalian teeth are extremely (37) ______ in shape, and so, forpalaeontologists, are almost like fingerprints that sometimes allow us to (38)______ species from only a single tooth or even a partial tooth,」 saysSeiffert.

If they do belong to this group, it will be the first time parapithecidfossils have been discovered in South America, says Seiffert. It suggests thatthe ancestors of platyrrhine monkeys aren’t the only ones who made thetrans-Atlantic voyage, he says.

Both lineages are thought to have crossed the ocean on a large raft offloating vegetation. Fossil dating (39) _______ that the second lineage ofmonkey made it across the Atlantic Ocean between 35 and 32 million years ago.This time frame coincided with a major drop in sea level that could have helpedthe animals to migrate by shortening their journey.

The team estimates that two lineages existed alongside each other for 11.5million years. It isn’t clear which group got there first. The oldestplatyrrhine fossil is about 34 million years old, younger than previously (40)_______, and closer to the age of the newly discovered parapithecid fossils,says Seiffert.

「Thereis no reason to think that platyrrhines arrived earlier than parapithecids,」says Seiffert. 「In fact, the two lineages could have come over around the sametime.」

二、參考答案

三、原文連接

四、核心詞彙

(注意：

diverse

diversely

diverseness

diversities

diversity

extinct

extinction

extinctions

fascinate

fascinated

fascinates

fascinating

fascination

fascinations

fossil

fossilisation

fossilise

fossilised

fossilises

fossilising

fossilization

fossilize

fossilized

fossilizes

fossilizing

fossils

identify

identifiable

identification

identifications

identified

identifier

identifiers

identifies

identifying

identities

identity

unidentifiable

unidentified

incredible

incredibly

indicate

indicated

indicates

indicating

indication

indications

indicative

indicator

indicators

migrate

migrated

migrates

migrating

migration

migrations

migratory

nonmigratory

transmigration

original

originality

originally

originals

unoriginal

originate

originated

originates

originating

originator

originators

shape

misshape

misshaped

misshapen

misshapes

misshaping

shaped

shapeless

shapelessly

shapelessness

shapelier

shapeliest

shapeliness

shapely

shaper

shapers

shapes

shaping

unshapely

slight

slighter

slightest

slighting

slightly

stem

stemmed

stemming

stems

think

rethink

rethinking

rethinks

rethought

thinker

thinkers

thinkin

thinking

thinks

thought

thoughtful

thoughtfully

thoughtfulness

thoughtless

thoughtlessly

thoughtlessness

thoughts

unthinkable

unthinking

unthinkingly

unthought

五、原文翻譯

Monkeys made their way from Africa to South America at least twice

猴子至少兩次從非洲到南美

Two lineages(血統) of ancient monkey migrated from Africa to South America more than 30 million years ago. But wearen’t sure which ones got there first.

三千多萬年前，有兩種古老猴子的血統從非洲遷徙到南美。但我們不確定是誰先到的。

Monkeys originated in Africa and the first group known to have reachedSouth America are thought to have migrated thereup to 40 million years ago, when the land masses were probably between 1500 and 2000 kilometresapart, around a quarter of the distance now.

猴子起源於非洲，已知第一批到達南美洲的猴子被認為是在4000萬年前遷徙到那裡的，當時的陸地距離大概在1500到2000公裡之間，大約是現在距離的四分之一。

But recent fossil discoveries, including that of fossilised teeth from asecond lineage of African monkey, tell a slightly different story.

但最近的化石發現，包括非洲猴子第二世系牙齒化石的發現，講述了一個稍有不同的故事。

Erik Seiffert at the University of Southern California and his colleaguesanalysed the fossilised teeth, which were originally discovered in Santa Rosa,Peru. 「This discovery was just so incredibly fascinating, I was very excited,」says Seiffert.

南加州大學的埃裡克·塞弗特和他的同事分析了這些牙齒化石，它們最初是在秘魯的聖羅莎發現的。「這個發現真是令人難以置信的迷人，我非常興奮，」塞弗特說。

He and his colleagues analysed four fossilised teeth and discovered thattheir shape doesn’t match that of the only previously known group ofancient monkeysfrom SouthAmerica, called platyrrhines. Instead, the teeth look much more like those ofan extinct group of African monkeys called the parapithecids.

他和他的同事分析了四顆牙齒化石，發現它們的形狀與之前已知的南美洲唯一的一組古猴子普拉蒂爾萊茵的形狀不符。相反，牙齒看起來更像是一種已經滅絕的非洲猴子群的牙齒。

「Mammalian teeth are extremely diverse in shape, and so, forpalaeontologists, are almost like fingerprints that sometimes allow us to identifyspecies from only a single tooth or even a partial tooth,」 says Seiffert.

塞弗特說：「哺乳動物的牙齒形狀極其多樣，因此，對古生物學家來說，它們幾乎就像指紋，有時能讓我們從一顆牙齒甚至一顆部分牙齒上識別物種。」

If they do belong to this group, it will be the first time parapithecidfossils have been discovered in South America, says Seiffert. It suggests thatthe ancestors of platyrrhine monkeys aren’t the only ones who made thetrans-Atlantic voyage, he says.

如果它們真的屬於這個群體，這將是第一次在南美洲發現女屍化石，塞弗特說。他說，這表明，並不是只有普拉蒂爾萊茵猴子的祖先才進行了跨大西洋航行。

Both lineages are thought to have crossed the ocean on a large raft offloating vegetation. Fossil dating indicates that the second lineage of monkeymade it across the Atlantic Ocean between 35 and 32 million years ago. Thistime frame coincided with a major drop in sea level that could have helped theanimals to migrate by shortening their journey.

這兩種血統都被認為是乘著一大群漂浮的植物漂洋過海的。化石年代測定表明，第二代猴子在3500萬至3200萬年前橫渡大西洋。這一時間段恰逢海平面大幅下降，原本可以通過縮短動物的遷徙行程來幫助它們遷徙。

The team estimates that two lineages existed alongside each other for 11.5million years. It isn’t clear which group got there first. The oldestplatyrrhine fossil is about 34 million years old, younger than previously thought,and closer to the age of the newly discovered parapithecid fossils, saysSeiffert.

該研究小組估計，這兩個血統在1150萬年內共存。不清楚是哪一組先到的。塞弗特說，最古老的普拉蒂爾萊茵化石大約有3400萬年的歷史，比以前認為的要年輕，而且更接近新發現的準化石的年齡。

「There is no reason to think that platyrrhines arrived earlier thanparapithecids,」 says Seiffert. 「In fact, the two lineages could have come overaround the same time.」（389）

「沒有理由認為普拉蒂爾萊茵比帕皮西德更早到達，」塞弗特說。「事實上，這兩個血統可能同時出現。」

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